'Transformers' and 'G.I. Joe' Crossover Movie Gets Important Update From Producer [Exclusive]

Ever since Transformers: Rise of the Beasts's ending last year confirmed that the Cybertronians existed in a world with the agents of G.I. Joe, work has continued in the background to make that crossover film a reality. In April, it was further solidified that the clash of Hasbro titans is indeed happening and Jurassic World's Derek Connolly would pen the script. However, with Transformers One coming out soon and acting as an origin story for Optimus Prime and Megatron while also aiming to be the first film in a trilogy, there are questions about what the exact future is for both franchises. During an interview for Josh Cooley's animated flick, Collider's Steve Weintraub asked di Bonaventura about the timeline for Transformers over the next few years.

A lot of what happens will hinge on whether Transformers One scores a haul at the box office. That seems like a strong possibility, with a strong 91% Rotten Tomatoes score thanks to rave reviews all around helping word-of-mouth, but it could take a monster performance to ultimately secure a sequel or two from all parties involved. Continuing the story on Cybertron will take precedence, in live-action, the timeline is a bit murkier. Despite discussions of another G.I. Joe standalone film and a trilogy around Rise of the Beasts, di Bonaventura offered some clarity, revealing that the next time these two franchises appear in live-action, it will be together. Moreover, he says that Transformers One's emotional perspective on the bots viewers know and love will inspire how they're portrayed going forward. He told Collider:

"Well, we're going, again, subject to success, we're going to do a sequel to this, and there will be an animated version, and it will exist completely separately to whatever we do live-action. The next live-action movie will be a crossover. Where it will be particularly affected is the fact that we now know what these robots are capable of emotionally in a way. So we're going to have to figure out how to create that room, that we can afford that, and create a story that you can take more advantage of that. So one of the things that I'm particularly interested in doing, and we're still in the development phase, so nothing is by any means written in stone, but I think we need to do more now from the robot point of view in the live-action because that's the only way you're really going to get inside them."

The Transformers Will Have More Agency in Their Crossover With 'G.I. Joe'

Part of the challenge in making a crossover is the sheer number of characters that will have to be worked in. Rise of the Beasts teased that Anthony Ramos's Noah and Pete Davidson's Mirage would have continued roles after the former accepted an invitation to join G.I. Joe and conducted some repairs on his Porsche-transforming friend. Iconic Autobots like Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) Bumblebee, and Maximals like Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) also seem likely to return in any future conflicts. On the G.I. Joe side, there's no indication of who exactly could join the fight, but Chris Hemsworth will be stepping out from his role of voicing a young Orion Pax to play a member of the elite agency for the crossover.

Despite a likely influx of new human characters as members of the Joes, di Bonaventura emphasizes that they want the Cybertronians to still have their own stories and goals. It's a tight balancing act, though, to give equal billing to both franchises given the difference in scale and powers. The team is still in the early stages of finding the right number of Joes and bots that will allow both a chance to shine without sacrificing too much characterization. He said:

"Instead of them reacting to humans or reacting to the human plot, what is their drive, has to be part of that story now. So it's going to be complicated because now the hardest thing about a lot of franchise movies is how many characters there are, and the more characters you try to manage, the harder it is to make a bunch of really good ones. You kind of got to keep going, keep it smaller, keep it smaller. So we'll be in that process for a while where we'll start with a bunch of Joes and a bunch of Transformers and I'll say, regular humans, and then you're going to do this. That's kind of where we are right now, is trying to put the larger thing in place. The trick in this one, like we were talking about here, in trying to find that tone and balance is like, 'Well, how much of the Joes do you want? And how much of the Transformers do you want?'"

 

 The Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover is still early in the process, but we'll have more here at Collider as news comes out. In the meantime, Transformers One hits theaters this Friday, September 20. Check out our guide here for everything to know before seeing the animated film.